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Gov't releases guidelines on eligibility for TEPCO damages

16 Comments

A government panel on Friday released a new set of guidelines that increase the categories and numbers of people and businesses to be compensated by Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) for financial and emotional damages caused by the continuing crisis at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The guidelines say that businesses, such as hotels, ryokans, restaurants and tour operators, which have lost business due to canceled reservations, and food exporters who have seen their business decline because of radiation worries, should be eligible for compensation. Farmers in prefectures where cattle were fed rice straw that was contaminated will also receive compensation under the new guidelines. Residents forced to leave their homes (but not those who left of their own accord) are included in the list.

The total amount of compensation is expected to cost several trillion yen, according to government estimates.

In response to the announcement, TEPCO said Friday that it will increase the number of staff working on the nuclear compensation issue to 5,000 next month from the current 1,000. TEPCO officials said at a news conference that as many as 500,000 people will be eligible for compensation under the new guidelines.

Since the damages bill is likely to be beyond TEPCO's financial capability, the Diet passed a law Wednesday to create a state-backed entity that will help pay damages to the victims of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The government is expected to pitch in an initial 2 trillion yen in the form of special government bonds, but the eventual cost is expected to be far higher.

Under the bill, which passed through the upper house, TEPCO and other nuclear power companies will pay into the fund, which will then compensate the victims.

The government has agreed to help TEPCO compensate evacuees and other victims, conceding in the law that the state is partly responsible because it has promoted nuclear energy for decades.

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16 Comments
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but not those who left of their own accord

I know this is a tricky situation, but I think it is unfair to ignore the families that put their own safety first. It is too dangerous to wait until the government asks you to evacuate. Because of which they will not get compensated! That is just totally unfair.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

The figures are mind-boggling. Several trillions of yen. Where is the money going to come from? TEPCO doesn't have that kind of money. The gobvernment creates an entity to help pay the compensation, which means, we the taxpayers, get stuck with the bill. Higher income tax, higher consumption tax, maybe even a higher ward tax, and of course higher electricity bills. Damn!

4 ( +4 / -0 )

The figures are mind-boggling. Several trillions of yen. Where is the money going to come from? TEPCO doesn't have that kind of money.

In March this year, right after the earthquake and tsunami, TEPCO only lost 1.93 trillion yen ($24 billion) in market value. They're a big company.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I know this is a tricky situation, but I think it is unfair to ignore the families that put their own safety first. It is too dangerous to wait until the government asks you to evacuate. Because of which they will not get compensated! That is just totally unfair.

Ok where do you draw the line? I know a guy who lived in Tokyo that moved his family to Okinawa out of fear of radiation in the food supply. By your guidelines, he is putting his families safety first, so does he deserve compensation?

Where do you draw the line? Technically everyone in the country would be eligible. And why just "families" first? Single folks have a right to safety as well don't they? What about the elderly? Don't they have the same rights as well?

It's pandora's box you are opening here. TEPCO drew as fair a line as they could I believe, strange as it may be, I think from the sound of this article it's pretty fair. Other folks should have their cases heard and decided upon on a case by case basis I believe. But money alone is not going to be enough for these folks.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Where will the Diet get the money from? YOU, of course and every other tax paying citizen. Where will Tepco get the money from? YOU,and every other electric power customer by increasing thier charges

1 ( +1 / -0 )

...(but not those who left of their own accord) are included in the list...

This is so shameful. What kind of people are these politicians. They think people who live 21 km away are some kind of criminals trying to milk the system??? Radiation is a real danger, and these people are suffering because a money making business had explosions and meltdowns, and along with the government, made things worse. They are victims.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

That doesn't really matter. TEPCO will never learn, as they can't learn even if they wanted. They don't understand what is happening around. They don't know how to run a nuclear power plant but they are very good at tricking they way out of problems and making others pay for their fault and making out money again even from a disaster.

People are dying? Who cares? Humans are not machinery that costs a lot to produce, they are self-reproducing. The industry and the infrastructure there has already gone anyway, human survivors are burden to the society and to the politicians and to TEPCO.

But business, that counts.

The guidelines say that businesses,......should be eligible for compensation......(but not those who left of their own accord) are included in the list.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The people who left by their own accord will probably save the health care system a lot of money in the future.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I know this is a tricky situation, but I think it is unfair to ignore the families that put their own safety first. It is too dangerous to wait until the government asks you to evacuate. Because of which they will not get compensated! That is just totally unfair.

Well said, Tokyokawasaki.

We all remember what happened in Iitate village, right? For weeks, monitoring was showing the radiation was too high but the government wouldn't evacuate them. Finally they did, but by then 2,000 had moved out voluntarily (out of a population of 6,500), so thanks to the government's slow response these people - nearly one third - are not eligible for compensation. That's just not on.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Finally they did, but by then 2,000 had moved out voluntarily (out of a population of 6,500), so thanks to the government's slow response these people - nearly one third - are not eligible for compensation. That's just not on.

Same question I posed to Tokyoawasaki I would like to pose to you hatsoff, where does the line get drawn? Who is eligible or should be eligible and who isnt? In cases like you posed in your response, yeah I agree they should get compensated as well, however there are plenty of people "near-by" and "far-away" as well who deserve compensation too!

In some respects everyone from the school kid whose grounds are irradiated deserve compensation because they can't play outside, the people who ate irradiated meat, the ocha growers, the list is endless.

Where does the line get drawn?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@Yubaru - I don't disagree with where you're coming from. Yes, a line has to be drawn, and the situation of someone fleeing from Tokyo is different to someone fleeing from Iitate village (though their personal sense of danger could well be the same). I think you've already pointed out a way to go - appeals heard on a case by case basis. And because someone leaving Iitate voluntarily is different from someone leaving Tokyo - the recorded radiation levels being evidence here - I would hope this could be done. I really hope so, because if not, I still think it's not on to refuse compensation to those who left Iitate voluntarily.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Do I get compensated for my moving out of Japan to protect my family? Yeah, I didn't think so. Thanks TEPCO.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Residents forced to leave their homes (but not those who left of their own accord)

Here's the problem with government's guideline. What forces residents to leave homes and what's not (a.k.a. voluntary departure) is not clear. Also, they fail to mention those who live nearby the hotspots and the areas where a high density of cesium are detected from soil and water.

Moreover, the guideline which is aimed in seeking damage compensation from a private company is incredulous because it apparently serves as a safeguard against supervising agents (i.e., the NISA, the METI) over their neglected responsibility to direct and maintain the safety of nuclear reactors. To me, the guideline deliberately shifts all responsibility for damage compensations from the government ministries to a private company.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The esimated comp. cost seems to be very low. NO comp. ceiling and affected area are mentioned on the guideline which is fair and just for victims.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Japan is doing a lot better job than US doing for Katrina victims.

Maybe i's because the victims here aren't asking for more money than what their property is worth?

Moderator: Katrina is not relevant to his discussion.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The line SHOULD NOT be drawn wheither people left on their own accord or not. It should be drawn based on relevant perameters (ie how far away from the plant your dwelling was, how much est. impact has the accident effected your business monitarily), is the government saying that those that left on their own accord, should not receive compensation because they were not equally effected? That they had sufficient resources to leave thus does not need your compensation? Or is the compensation solely due to the time frame in which the government released the news and ordered evacuation, so if they prompty ordered the evacuation there would be no compensation? Makes no sense. Leaving on their own accord shouldn't even be mentioned.

Just because you have to draw a line, does not mean you draw it where ever the hell you want.

Are there more details as to the compensation, they have an amount, or is that just what the government is pitching in at first and not what they predict the amount to be. And realistically, there is no way the money is going to be coming from tepco's personal pockets, so we all know where it is coming from.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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